The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon. It is believed that many people may incorporate hair extensions into their hair. Some individuals may place hair extensions in their hair in order to add length or fullness to their natural hair. Some individuals may use hair extensions to change or enhance the style of their hair. These extensions may be made of real human hair or artificial hair.
By way of educational background, an aspect of the prior art generally useful to be aware of is that there are currently a variety of different types of hair extensions available including, without limitation, clip-in hair extensions, hair extensions that use adhesive as the point of attachment, hair extensions that use micro beads or micro rings as the point of attachment, and braid-on wig hair extensions. Current clip-in hair extensions on the market are typically created by aligning individual strands of hair and sewing the hair strands with thread to form a weft, which may hold the strands of hair together to form a hair extension. Other current clip in hair enhancement systems may be used to install larger hair pieces such as wigs or toupees. Clips may then be sewn onto the weft to serve as the point of attachment of the hair extension to the user's natural hair. It is believed that the sewn construction of some of these extensions may provide a thick and bulky weft, which may cause the top edge and/or the thread of such extensions to become visible when the user's natural hair moves intentionally or involuntarily or if the weft is placed too near the crown of the user's head or too close to the hair line of the user's natural hair. In some instances the clips used to hold these extensions in place may be visible above the top portion of the weft. One may expect that the visibility of portions of current clip-in hair extensions may be particularly apparent if the user has thin or short hair. As a result, those with thin or short hair may be limited in the volume they can experience with such clip-in hair extensions. Furthermore, these extensions may be easily felt by the user if they run their fingers through their hair due to the thickness and bulkiness of the top portion of the wefts, and the extensions may be even more easily felt if the user has thin or short hair. Some solutions may provide options for clipping in hair extensions to natural hair with a single or dual clip member in the device with the usage of upward facing combs. The multiple application options for these clip in devices may require the user and/or hairstylist to be educated in the usage options of the devices, which may be time consuming and costly.
When several of these typically thick and bulky wefts are attached to a user's natural hair, it is believed that this may be uncomfortable for the user as they may experience pulling from the weight of the hair extensions. Often, current clip-in hair extensions may be created with multiple individual wefts sewn together to form a combination weft for more volume. One may expect that the use of combination wefts may increase the heavy feel of the extensions when attached to a user's hair, may increase the visibility of the wefts when the user's natural hair moves, and may be easily felt when the user runs their fingers through their hair. In addition, as a result of sewing multiple wefts together with thread, it is believed that the wefts may become misaligned, which may further increase the thickness and bulkiness of the wefts. This misalignment may also typically prevent the weft from lying flat to the head and may not allow the user to match the top edge of the weft with the part created in their natural hair to guide the installation of the clip-ins. It is believed that shedding of hair strands may be experienced with current clip-in hair extensions. Often adhesive may be added to the top portion of the weft in some current clip-in hair extensions to reduce the shedding of the hair strands which may occur during daily brushing, combing, washing, styling, and activities. As a result it is believed that the adhesive may make the wefts feel stiff in addition to thick and bulky. The feature of stiffness caused by adhesive applied to current clip-in hair extensions may be applicable to both individual and combination wefts. Moreover, the adhesive may degrade over time with exposure to oils and wear and tear from washing, styling, and repeat installations.
Currently, some clip-in hair extensions may be hand-made by the user or a hairstylist by sewing clips to individual sewn wefts for sale on the market. It is believed that this may be an intimidating or time consuming experience for the user or for hairstylists. One may expect that if the clip-in hair extensions are not made correctly and securely the user may face an embarrassing situation where the hair extension system may be visibly exposed to others or may shift or fall out unexpectedly. Furthermore, such approaches may require specific sewing equipment in order to combine more than one weft, which may be expensive and/or difficult to use. One may expect that this may discourage the user or hairstylist to combine wefts in these types of extensions thereby typically limiting the amount of volume that may be achieved.
In one currently available system for hair addition, a hair extension comprises a plurality of hair strands that are grouped together with thread and sandwiched between two strips of polyurethane. The two layers of polyurethane are then cured, and clips may be added to the cured polyurethane. One may expect that the cured polyurethane may result in a solid strip that runs along the top portion of the hair extension, which may prevent the top portion of the strands from blending with the user's natural hair near the roots. Furthermore, it is believed that if the user's natural hair moves, the strip of cured polyurethane may be visible. Moreover, a user may be able to feel the strip of solid cured polyurethane as they run their fingers through their hair.
By way of educational background, an aspect of the prior art generally useful to be aware of is that there are a number of currently available systems and methods of providing hair extensions that involve the attachment of the wefts to the user's natural hair or scalp with adhesives. These systems may incorporate a variety of different types of adhesives including, without limitation, double sided adhesive tape, double sided adhesive tape and extended wings, single sided adhesive strips, liquid adhesive, hot melt adhesive, gel adhesives, paste adhesives, glue sticks, glue pebbles or granules, etc. Some of these systems may involve applying a non-weft device, individual hairs, or a lace base to the user's hair or scalp via adhesive. It is believed that the use adhesive as the point of attachment to the user's natural hair or scalp may result in premature loosening and detachment of the extensions if the adhesive comes into contact with oil, for example, without limitation, oil secreted from the user's scalp or oil ingredients in hair care or hair styling products. Therefore it is believed that users may often avoid applying hair care and hair styling products on or near the roots of their natural hair or scalp that may contain oil ingredients to prevent the aforementioned effect of premature loosening or detachment. This may lead to the effect of neglecting to maintain the health of the user's natural hair near the roots or scalp, which may cause long term damage to the user's natural hair in the form of dryness and hair breakage. Furthermore, systems that may require the placement of the adhesive on the user's scalp may risk damage to the roots of the user's natural hair by blocking the breathability of their scalp where the adhesive is applied. One may expect that root damage from lack of breathability along with improper removal of adhesive may result in the appearance of bald spots on the user's scalp.
Hair extension systems and methods that utilize adhesive as the point of attachment to the consumer's natural hair or scalp may require the employment of a licensed hairstylist for proper application and/or removal of the extensions. For example, if the adhesive tape is not secured correctly to the extension or to the user's natural hair, the hair extension may loosen or detach prematurely. Moreover, the stylist would typically have a clear view of all angles of the user's head as well as the moving parts of the hair extensions such as extended wings or overlapping double sided adhesive tape as they are applied to the user's head, which may aid in the accurate positioning of the extension and the adhesive. A hairstylist who has a clear view of all angles of the user's head would typically be able to consistently apply the pressure necessary for maximum adhesion along the entire length of the extension for consistent application. It is believed that if a portion of the adhesive is not properly attached to the extension or the user's natural hair or scalp, the adhesive may be left exposed to catch hold of free strands of the user's natural hair, which may be frustrating and uncomfortable and may also lead to premature loosening and detachment of the extensions and/or damage to the user's natural hair. In addition, if extensions comprising adhesive strips are not carefully applied, the adhesive portion can be twisted or wrinkled out of shape. If this happens, the adhesive may typically make it challenging to unravel the distorted shape for smooth application and may reduce the strength of the adhesive. It is often necessary to use an oil-based product such as citrus oil, olive oil, or baby oil as a solvent to remove the adhesive or adhesive tape from the extensions and/or the user's natural hair, and this removal process can be messy and time consuming as all adhesive and oil typically must be removed from the extensions and the user's natural hair prior to re-application. Therefore, a clear view of the amount and location of adhesive and oil on the user's head, which may be acquired by a hairstylist, typically may be desired to effectively remove the adhesive and oils from the user's natural hair and scalp and the extension system. Removal of the adhesive and oils may be particularly important prior to re-application of an extension system as oil remaining on the user's natural hair or scalp or on the extension system can prematurely loosen or detach the new application of adhesive to the system and the user's hair or scalp. In some current hair extension systems, an adhesive strip may be sewn to the weft and cannot be removed after the adhesive has weakened or detached. Therefore, this system is not reusable, and a new system must typically be applied to the consumer's scalp or natural hair after the adhesive has lost its ability to function as such which could be costly and time consuming as a professional hairstylist would need to be employed. Furthermore, once applied, these systems often cannot be repositioned.
By way of educational background, an aspect of the prior art generally useful to be aware of is that other current hair extension systems and methods may involve the attachment of hair extension wefts or hair strands to a user's natural hair with micro beads, also known as micro rings or micro tubes. These systems include, without limitation, a method for attaching hair extensions with a crimp able anchor device or micro beads which are attached to a hair weft and systems that may utilize a skin weft with micro rings to serve as an anchor for the user's natural hair to the skin weft. In some of these systems the micro beads may be layered under the hair weft, typically causing the system to be bulky and easily felt by the consumer. Furthermore, these systems may often become visible when the user's natural hair moves voluntarily or involuntarily. In other such systems, the micro beads may be positioned on the outside of the hair weft. The micro beads in these systems may typically be easily felt if the user runs their fingers through their hair and may often be visible to others due to their position on the outside of the weft. Similarly to aforementioned systems, the ability to feel the micro beads as the user runs their fingers through their hair or the visibility of the micro beads may be amplified if the user has thin or short hair. In some instances, the user may be bothered by the weight and bulk of the wefts and micro beads when one or more extensions comprising wefts and micro beads are connected to the user's natural hair.
Multiple visits to a professional hairstylist may be required to install, re-adjust, and remove the aforementioned systems that employ micro beads as the point of attachment to a consumer's natural hair for the duration of the hair system installation which can be costly monetarily and in time. Also, if such systems are not installed, adjusted or removed correctly, a user may risk damage to their natural hair or premature loosening or detachment of the system. A hairstylist would typically have a clear view of all angles of the user's head and may therefore determine and select a suitable location to attach the system as well as a suitable amount of hair to pull through the micro beads to safely close and re-open the micro beads. Additionally, the hairstylist may be better able to perform the correct and safe application of the tools needed to install, re-adjust, and remove the micro bead system correctly and securely such as crochet needles and clamping devices. In some cases, professional hairstylist may be required to undergo education to learn how to install, re-adjust, and remove such systems correctly which can be costly and time consuming for the hairstylist as their time could be better spent providing income producing services to their clients.
Approaches including adhesive based systems and micro bead, also known as micro ring or micro tube, systems are often worn from 1 month to 3 months. Due to the fixed direction of the initial installation of these current hair extension systems, one may expect that the user may be limited in available style options. For example, if the user chooses to create a style option that requires the hair in the system to lay in a different direction than what is natural for the initial attachment position of the hair system, the user may risk visibility of the hair system. Also, these systems typically cannot be re-adjusted as the user's natural hair grows. Instead, the system would usually need to be removed completely in order to change the position of the extensions as the user's natural hair grows longer. The re-application process can be costly, messy, cumbersome and time-consuming. It is believed that as the user's natural hair grows longer, the system may become increasingly visible to others, and the user may often experience difficulty combing and brushing during daily natural hair maintenance and styling as the hair extension system moves in a downward direction with the incoming new growth of the user's natural hair, which may subject the system to conditions that may lead to premature loosening or detachment of the system.
Hair extensions worn for 1 to 3 months or more are typically considered long term hair extensions. After the long term hair extensions have been worn for an extended time, the add-on hair is typically not in the same shape as it was when initially installed. For example, when the add-on hair that is part of the long-term hair extension system ages, the add-on hair may experience tangling, shedding, color fading, and/or matting. Also, multiple washings may remove protective coatings that may be applied to the hair before use. Furthermore, coloring of the add-on hair may result in the, shortening of the lifespan of the add-on hair itself due to cuticle damage. It is believed that, once the add-on hairs in long-term hair extension methods reach the end of their usability, users typically purchase a new long-term system or explore a new hair extension option with fresh add-on hair rather than re-use the previously worn extensions.
In view of the foregoing, it is clear that these traditional techniques are not perfect and leave room for more optimal approaches.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.